The controversial slugger made his season debut as a visitor when his San Francisco Giants met the Washington Nationals at RFK Stadium. The 32,403 fans on hand greeted his at-bats with the usual soundtrack of boos and camera clicks.

With one vicious swing in the fourth inning, though, Bonds turned boos into cheers when he hit a moon shot into the upper deck in right field for his third home run of the season and 706th of his career – leaving him eight behind Babe Ruth for second on the all-time list. The ball landed eight rows up between sections 467 and 468.

The Giants won, 4-3, on Moises Alou’s three-run home run in the ninth inning.

Will Kaufman, a 49-year-old Waynesboro, Pa., resident, went home with the ball after it bounced his way.

“We got a little bit of a bonus here tonight,” said Kaufman, who attended the game with his 18-year-old daughter, Jessica, and said he did not intent to sell the ball.

The Kaufmans did not even attend the game to see Bonds. They wanted to see Giants rookie pitcher Matt Cain, whom Jessica became of a fan of when he pitched in the minors near their home.

Other fans sitting in right field were there solely because of Bonds. In March, Andrew Lang, a mortgage banker from Rockville, Md., bought 20 seats in right field for each of this week’s games in hopes of getting a home-run ball. He picked the row he thought Bonds was most likely to hit it to and had his 11-year-old son’s baseball team positioned to grab the ball.

The solo homer, which came off of Livan Hernandez, was Bonds’ only hit of the game, his seventh contest this season since returning from three right knee surgeries.

Before the game, Bonds met the media and weighed in on topics ranging from his knee to Congress’ ongoing steroids inquiry. He said Congress should worry about “more important” issues, such as the Hurricane Katrina disaster. He also called disgraced Baltimore Oriole slugger Rafael Palmeiro a “good friend.”

Palmeiro ended his comeback from his steroids suspension because he could not deal with the harsh treatment he received on the road. At one point, Palmeiro resorted to wearing earplugs.

Bonds is sure to get the same type of harassment from fans during the Giants’ current 10-game road trip, but his skin is as thick as his biceps.

“I suspect that he’s going to get a lot of boos on the road, but unlike Palmeiro, is this going to affect his performance? No,” Giants owner Peter Magowan said. “If anything, it seems to spur him on. He’s always played very well on the road.